newtopos

History

Member for

4 years 41 weeks

Blog

View recent blog entries

Recent Comments

Date	Title	Body
1 week 3 days ago	The Ball State turnaround myth	Bill Lynch's last three years at Ball State: 5-6, 5-6, 6-6 (2000-2002). Hoke's first four years at Ball State: 4-8, 2-9, 4-7, 5-7 (2003-2006).  Each of Hoke's first four seasons was worse than any of the previous three seasons under Lynch.   Regardless of the positives and negatives of Hoke as Michigan's coach, saying he "turned around" Ball State is about as accurate as saying he always wears long sleeves and a headset, that Rich Rod never got angry on the sidelines, and that Bill Lynch never threw his gum on the sidelines -- namely, not accurate at all.
3 weeks 5 days ago	Unfortunately	I just envisioned Hoke burning a timeout because we weren't ready with a number for Peppers.  Too soon?
11 weeks 1 day ago	Any names you want to throw out?	Just so we can daydream a little?  Unfortunately, while the Harbaugh brothers are two of the absolute best coaches in the business and also have ties to the program, I don't see either one coming to Ann Arbor.  No up and coming (or established) superstar coach even seems like a possibility at this point.
11 weeks 1 day ago	Where Ball State was before Hoke	I do not see how this myth continues to live on.  Here is Ball State's record the three years prior to Hoke's arrival (under Bill Lynch): 5-6, 5-6, 6-6 Here are Hoke's records at Ball State: 4-8, 2-9, 4-7, 5-7, 7-6, 12-1 Each of Hoke's first four years was worse than each of the three years prior to his arrival.  Only in Hoke's fifth year did he improve upon Lynch's record (and only by half a game).   He had one outlier year, and used that to propel him into a better job.  But his record isn't anything like those of coaches who consistently and significantly improve the results of the teams they take over (e.g., Harbaugh, Meyer, etc.).  Heck, Turner Gill had a better track record of improvement in the MAC during the same time period, taking a Buffalo team that had won 1 game (2003), 2 games (2004), and 1 game (2005) under the previous coach, and then leading them to 2 wins in his first year, 5 in his second, and 8 in his third (and beating Hoke's ranked Ball State team for the MAC championship).
13 weeks 4 days ago	Our offensive line	Thank goodness we have the OL coach who led Colorado State to seasons of 4-7, 6-6, 4-8, and 3-9 before hooking up with Hoke.  I have to imagine that Funk and Tony Gibson share notes.
13 weeks 6 days ago	Normal speed at Ball State	Ball State under Bill Lynch (last 3 years): 2000: 5-6 2001: 5-6 2002: 6-6 Ball State under Brady Hoke (first 4 years): 2003: 4-8 2004: 2-9 2005: 4-7 2006: 5-7 In other words, each of Hoke's first four years at Ball State was worse than each of the last three years of his predecessor, Bill Lynch.   (Lynch also got a shot at a Big Ten job and has most recently coached DePauw.)  This is not a turnaround. I presume the poster meant that not equalling 6-6 or 5-6 for the first four years was not achieving the "normal speed" that Ball State had achieved under Lynch.  No one denies that he had one very good year at Ball State (out of six).  While he may love Michigan, be a good uniter of the program (which it needed), etc., some of us are not impressed with what he did at his previous stops.
16 weeks 2 days ago	Still unknown	As I understand it, this still does not explain why so many people find the show The Big Bang Theory funny.  I assume our best minds are still trying to figure that one out.
16 weeks 4 days ago	One answer	Okay, figured out that it's on CBSSports.com, not CBSSportsNetwork.com, on the web.  Still don't know about the apps, so I'll defer to others on that.
16 weeks 4 days ago	Game available online?	Sorry for the dumb question, but I've only had to use the Watch ESPN and BigTen2Go apps before.  Will the game be viewable using the CBS Sports app?  Is there a different way to watch it (CBSSportsNetwork.com)?  Neither one seems to be showing the earlier game.  (At work for the day.)  Thanks for any help.
19 weeks 2 days ago	Even better	Meyer asking Harbaugh "What's your deal?" after Michigan runs up the score.
20 weeks 1 day ago	Reason for hope	By year three of his stint at Colorado State, Funk's squad was averaging 2.5 yards per carry (114th out of 119th).  In year four, they improved to 3.8 yards per carry (71st out of 120), on their way to a 3-9 record.  Improvement, huzzah!
21 weeks 3 days ago	MAC Coach of the Year	Well, 2011 MAC Coach of the Year was Ron English.  I'm sure Michigan fans (and Hoke himself) would trade any of those coach of the year awards for a conference title.
24 weeks 6 days ago	Michigan State, UCF, and Baylor	Baylor has 2.  More importantly, Baylor has Art Briles.   It will always be true that some teams outperform their recruiting ranks.  Others underperform.  Given that we were 7-6 this past year, I thought some people have focused on the relative recruiting success of Hoke.  I was merely pointing out that at least this year, with respect to recruiting, as judged by Scout.com, our relative recruiting success against our primary rival is...not particularly strong.  I'd much rather win in the fall than win in recruiting, but this was a thread about recruiting.
24 weeks 6 days ago	Top 100 recruits	At least according to these Scout.com ratings, Michigan has 3 commits in the top 100.  Ohio State has 10.  That is not good.
25 weeks 3 days ago	Progression/regression	2008 - 8 games under 300 2009 - 3 games under 300 2010 - 0 games under 300 Borges arrives 2011 - 3 games under 300 2012 - 4 games under 300 2013 - 5 games under 300 Obviously, it's not that the total under RR (11) roughly equals the number under Borges (12).  The majority under RR came in his first year.  Borges' number of games under 300 rose each year.  The regression under Borges at Michigan is consistent with the regression that Borges has experienced at other stops.  That said, he seems like a good guy and I wish him well.
25 weeks 6 days ago	Business processes, etc.	My question regarding this premise is why did Brandon agree to pay Hoke approximately $4M/yr in March 2011?  That was not the market price for Hoke.  Minnesota had looked at Hoke in November 2010, and then hired Jerry Kill in December 2010 (ultimately at around $1.2M/yr).  Given the intense desire on Hoke's part to coach Michigan, and the lack of interest in Hoke from other top programs, his compensation appears significantly inflated.
26 weeks 13 hours ago	Bob Stitt - HC of small school	Actually, I think Bob Stitt would take the right OC job.  (He first gained some notoriety when Holgorsen credited him after the 2012 Orange Bowl as the inventor of the Fly Sweep, when WVU put up 70 on Clemson.)  It would be like a Malzahn hire, when he jumped to the OC ranks of an FBS school.  Not saying Michigan will consider it, but some smart program should interview him.
26 weeks 15 hours ago	Bob Stitt -- Colorado School of Mines	Bob Stitt -- Colorado School of Mines.
26 weeks 1 day ago	Michigan's schedule	Given that Auburn this year played at LSU and at Texas A&M, and also played Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss, and Missouri, is Michigan's schedule next year really a murderer's row?  I would say no.  (It will of course be harder than this year's schedule.)
26 weeks 1 day ago	Yards per carry	Cal. under Borges: ’01  3.4 Indiana: ’01  5.7 (pre-Borges) ’02  3.2 ’03  3.4 Auburn under Borges: ’04  4.3 ’05  4.8 ’06  4.1 ’07  3.8 Michigan: ’10  5.6 (pre-Borges) ’11  5.2 ’12  4.8 ’13  3.3 Auburn: ’12  4.1 (Loeffler ) ’13  6.3 (Malzahn) Arizona: ’11  3.4 (pre-RR) ’12  5.4 ’13  5.3 Count me as someone who does not believe that all OCs, all schemes, and all S&C programs are relatively equal on the FBS stage.  (If that were truly the case, we should simply hire the staff willing to work for the lowest amount.  Our spending suggests that we do not subscribe to this theory.)
26 weeks 5 days ago	E.g., LSU	LSU started a true freshman at center this year that Hoke turned away (because he had filled up the class at that point on OL) -- Ethan Pocic.  And this was despite the fact that Pocic had not even played any center in high school.  Stop blaming the former regime.  It's year four for Hoke, Funk, and Al.
26 weeks 6 days ago	Congrats to Jerry Montgomery	Oklahoma D line coached by our former D line coach Jerry Montgomery, who was poached at the end of last season.
27 weeks 2 hours ago	Freshman offensive linemen	I believe Ethan Pocic, whose offer Hoke pulled when we filled up and who was high on Michigan, started some games this year at center for LSU as a true freshman.  I also believe he had never played the center spot before reporting to LSU.
27 weeks 15 hours ago	247Sports article (free) - Peppers	The author of the article has responded in the comments, and notes that while Speight has "better tools, but sometimes the ball does not come out right," and Peavy has been the most consistently accurate, the best QB he has seen on Team Nitro has been...Jabrill Peppers.
27 weeks 19 hours ago	Return to traditional Michigan run game	2010: 5.58 yards/attempt 2011: 5.15 yards/attempt 2012: 4.76 yards/attempt 2013: 3.28 yards/attempt
27 weeks 1 day ago	This narrative	This narrative is not only tired, but just not accurate.  The Arizona QB literally had no offers coming out of high school.  He enrolled in Arizona last year out of junior college.  It appears he had no other offers coming out of junior college, unlike, for example, Bo Wallace or even Nick Montana.  With this zero star recruit, RR leads them to an 8-5 record and a beatdown of Oregon and BC in their bowl game.  And you attribute this to a plethora of talent left by Stoops?  If this were Michigan and Hoke, many would be saying that he needs a four/five star QB with four years under genius Al to learn to properly "execute" his perfect West Coast Offense, of which Al would not change a thing, no matter what happens in any game.   The true freshman leading receiver for Arizona is also a three-star recruit.  How can it be that a true freshman is productive?  Is this person attiributable to the cupboard Stoops left as well?
27 weeks 1 day ago	Money for John Harbaugh	To be fair, though, somehow we decided to pay $4 million for a coach that has never won a conference title, and is barely .500 lifetime (even coaching in the MAC and MWC).  (The fact that Brandon hired Hoke and Borges doesn't surprise me; the fact that he is wildly overpaying them is somewhat troubling.)  If John Harbaugh -- a Super Bowl winning coach who has won 2/3 of his games in the NFL, is in his prime, has a great coaching tree (e.g., Chuck Pagano coached under him), has Michigan ties, and is not a diffiicult personality (like his brother) -- were really an an option at $7 million a year, Michigan would be foolish not to pay it.
27 weeks 1 day ago	Difficulty of West Coast Offense	The problem with trying to implement a difficult offense that takes 3 years to really learn at Michigan is that colleges have constant turnover.  This is not the 49ers, which might have the same QB and receivers for the better part of a decade.
27 weeks 2 days ago	Hoke's aspirations	Yes, Hoke:UM::Bill Stewart:WVU.   (Except Bill Stewart had a better 3 year post-RR win-loss record at WVU than Hoke has had at UM.)
27 weeks 4 days ago	12th game under 300 yards?	Isn't this the 12th game under 300 yards for Borges? 2011: WMU, Mich. St., Va. Tech 2012: Ala., ND, Neb., OSU 2013: UConn, Mich. St., Neb., Iowa, K. St. Note that in true Borges regression fashion, he has had more each year. In 2010, our worst offensive output was 342 yards against 15th ranked Miss. State.

more